Thursday, May 15, 2014

Yeah, I Remember You.....Damn

So
as the house French wine specialist, and lifer at The Wine Country it has, over the years become my calling to bring in the wall of refreshing and craveable pink wine that meets everyone's eyes the second they walk through the front door each Spring and Summer. This is
not only my pleasure it is, thanks to the overwhelming response from
all of our customers, my honor to take charge of what has become the most favored warm weather wine, our selection of which is down right legendary. I assure
you, for just as many wines as they see there were just as many that were rejected
for being too simple, fruity, alcoholic or just plain weird and while I
am sure I will find no sympathy I promise you, it is not so much fun to
smell, taste and spit the wines that don’t make the cut. Even less fun
having to explain to some bandwagoning supplier that their, just
acquired....(because you know, everyone has to have a Rose now), Rose is
flat, insipid and falls into the, "Are you stoned?!" pricing category
compared to the wines we are already working with. Been in the Rose game
far too long to be dazzled by some craptastic left behind. If the guys
that "got it" before it was hip opted to leave it in France, well then
chances are this buyer is going to let in get lost in your giant
portfolio of just okay wines. Sorry....

I
am asked every year, “Which ones are good?” or “Which is your
favorite?” and as any good mother would, “They are all good and it would
be too hard to pick a favorite” is what you will hear by way of a
response from me. The wines are all good, wouldn’t be at the store if I
didn’t truly believe that but as to which is my favorite, well like that
mother thing, I might be fibbing a little.

Last
year a few of our Saturday tasters as well as a chunk of my blog
readers were let in on my favorite Rose, the Domaine de la Fouquette Cotes de Provence
Rose and once they tasted it we blew through the last available eight
cases on the west coast, in less than a day and a half. It was unreal
and while I was a tad bummed that I had let my Rose cat of the
proverbial bag and there was no more for me to sip away on, I was
thrilled that I was able to share that wine, my most beloved wine, with
those of you that got that opportunity to try it.

So
as it turns out, I have already found the Rose that makes my toes curl,
far earlier this year than last year but sadly, it is just as limited,
in fact...far more limited. Don’t you just hate that?! Got our annual Rose Fest coming up here screaming fast and now I find myself in a quandary, pour it for our event or spill here first and let those that wish to be seduced by the most compelling Rose I've had, well since two vintages ago when this very same producer released his 2011 Rose on me. Oh yeah, damn, I remember you...

So
last year the Fouquette was simply charming. A delightful little Rose
that drank like it had a fistful of grapefruit squeezed into it and should have been far more expensive....even tasted it
along side some wines twice its price and still preferred the Fouquette.
Stoopid value that was simply delicious. This year however, it isn't a
charmer that has stolen my heart...no, this wine reaches beyond the
constraints of Rose and lands squarely in that seductive, contemplative
and haunting category.

"Don't hide it, divide it"

"I can't stop thinking about that wine....that Rose you let me taste"

"So is it here yet, that more than Rose, Rose? I knew I was going to be in trouble working here with these Rose but that one? Man."

Expressions of elation from one of our newer staff members Brian Holowka who is experiencing his very first, "Summer of Sam" as it were, and was the lucky recipient of not one but two shared sample bottles of the Rose that is now haunting the both of us.

The
2013 Clos Marie Pic Saint Loup Rose is one sexy beast of a wine that I
shall covet until the last of the 15 cases that I've begged for have vanished. At $18.99 a bottle I'm guessing that it won't
fly like some of the less expensive and easier to swallow Roses do. Guessing is the same as hoping
right? A very serious wine that drinks even better, if you can stand it,
on day two than it does upon opening it, but in the interest of
true confessions, I have greedily devoured the saturated fruit, wet stones,
striations of spice, curvy mouth filling weight in one gloriously
satisfying sitting. And I plan on doing it again and again. Too serious to just suck back, too sexy
to ignore, this is a wine that works both your palate and your head and digs its impression on your tongue like a pair of slowly pulsating stiletto heels. I
am deeply in love with it, but by all means, feel free to just ignore
it, deem it too pricy or just another pink wine. It has a place to go, a
palate that is waiting, wanting and ready......

I have 15 cases on hold, ready to arrive at the first week of June, just in time, as I stated, for our annual Rose Fest but...part of me wants to exclude it from the event to feed my own need to be be spun and titillated, but also, I want those that are so inclined, the ones that drink like I do, taste like I do, let themselves be pulled under over and over again until they quit fighting and just let go, I want to make sure those people get a chance to taste it too....so um, what if I offer a wee bit of a discount to those who pull the trigger before the wine even gets here? Can't really sell what has already been sold now can I?

Trust me? If you so, hit me up here, email, phone or on Facebook, or if you are more comfortable avoiding me, (and who could blame you really?!) all together you can simply go here, https://thewinecountry.com/ enter coupon code (you will see it at checkout) 10offclosmarie and you get this stunningly sexy Rose for $16.99 a bottle!

Not a huge reduction but it might stimulate you a bit, the wine, well the wine will finish you off. Only good for the 15 cases we have on order and offer expires the day the wine arrives June 2nd, (and I will be out of town so I can't save you any once they get here!) and seeing as we took half the allocation for the west coast...well you have been alerted, an warned.

10 comments:

Samantha, I trust your palate but also recognize that it's far more sophisticated than mine. Accordingly, put a couple of bottles aside for me so I can try it. Also a couple of bottles of the Fouquette. I won't be back in town until late next week, but you know I'm good for it. Thanks for the heads up!

Steve,I will message you over on Facebook about the Clos Marie and I have already pulled you 2 of the Fouquette as it is nearly gone and I can't get more of that either. The Clos Marie is not going to be here until the first week in June but those do need to be ordered and paid for before they arrive to take advantage of the discount, which is what my message on Facebook will say. I certainly know you are good for it darlin, just the nature of pre-offer but there is a good chance there will be some left when it arrives and if you'd rather not pay ahead you can still get some, just will have to be at the $18.99 price.

For the record I think you have a very fine palate from so much as I can tell. The more we taste together the better we get, as a team. Now that's the fun part isn't it?

When I add in the cost of a round trip airfare to Wine Country, it's too pricy for me ... but that does not mean that I won't hit the two "better" wine shops nearby to see if either happened to get a bit of the East Coast allotment!

Finally catching up with your posts here. Inspiring me to get something written. 3 of the Clos Marie, s'il vous-plait and won't be sharing them with the husband who doesn't get it about Rose'. Want me to come by the store to pay? Who knows what else I might walk out with?

Sara,I think you hiccuped there lady. I too wish we were closer and I still can't believe that you moved out of France before we got to meet....and moved to a state that won't let me share great bottles of wine with you!

Katie,Been having a hard time finding inspiration myself but I think it has more to do with the sewage leak that took over my apartment and had us hotel dwelling and moving furniture (because we needed all new flooring throughout) more than lack of desire and shortage of content. I can put you down for two of the Clos Marie and you can enjoy them all by yourself!